An Inconvenient Sequel | Truth To Power
An In-Depth Look at Climate Change and Global Warming
A Film Review by Dawn Garcia
[dropcap letter=”T”]onight as the Los Angeles heat rose once again, traffic congested the city streets and I headed to attend the premier of “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power” with a Q & A with Al Gore, Maria Shriver, Jeffrey Skoll and Richard Berge afterwards at ArcLight CineramaDome (more on the Q&A next week). Before the film began, we did the VR created by Participant Media. The experience was mesmerizing as I found myself turning in all directions to see the rounding of the glacier in front of me, the river just below my feet, touch the leaves of the tree blowing in the heart of the storm and standing on the ice floor beneath me. This was by far the best VR I’ve ever experienced. The amount of work put into this virtual experience speaks volumes for the work PM does. Every detail is thought out, the storyline of the visuals is woven together seamlessly, and the message is clear: Our Planet Matters.
As my daughter and I finished watching and found ourselves in awe of what we just experienced, we headed in to the screening. The moment I was shown to my seat one thought rang loudly in my head: how can I be an active part of changing this planet for my daughter? Part of that answer resolved itself because she was sitting beside me. Ten years old and already acutely aware of the environmental impacts of climate change and global warming. In other words, she is the future of this planet and she’s not alone. As the film played, my heart sank, fluttered, felt heavy and then relieved. Exploring the catastrophic truths of what is happening to our planet at an alarming rate through this film is devastating and hopeful all at once. While you see the ice melting, droughts persisting, thrashing storms, an unnatural amount of flooding, lack of energy resources in nations that need it most, and see the suffering of a world that would thrive were it to come together, you cannot help but feel compelled to do something.
The film itself is a follow-up, ten years after the initial release of “An Inconvenient Truth” with Al Gore. The film reached billions around the world and became the stark reality so many tried to ignore – it also incited what seems unfathomable – a population of what are referred to as “climate deniers”. In spite of mounting scientific and factual evidence, there is still a frightening amount of the world’s population who refuse to accept the inevitably that it’s up to us to make a change. The measurements of rising water levels are significantly alarming, including in our nation in the lively city of Miami. In other words, this isn’t a fad or a false ideal but rather a call-to-action that all of us around the world have to pay attention to and must take part in fixing.
Filming over two years from 2015 to June 2017, we see an array of global fury and political instability. One impacting the other. While the film is not political in nature, it’s difficult to separate out that decisions about how to affect climate change, taking into account the events surrounding the world Climate Summits when the world’s leaders come together to find a collective solution. During the making of this documentary, the Paris attacks happened in the wake of the summit and for a while, there was unity among leaders. The film handles this in a beautiful, emotionally endearing way that gives you hope in the wake of such uncertainty. That said, towards the end of the second year of filming, Trump became President and pulled the US out of the Paris Climate Accord, an agreement that was instrumental in the progress of affordable and environmentally sound energy options in developing countries.
While the film doesn’t delve too deep into politics, it does confront the truths about the importance of solid political unity, leaders that care first for their country and the people within it. There is no which way around it, this sequel is an essential film that documents the real-time climate changes happening now – every day – at rapid rates requiring our attention. The message of the film is one that resonates deeply with anyone who wants a better world: Use Your Voice, Use Your Choice, Use Your Vote.
[separator type=”thin”]Some Facts About Climate Change from NASA:
“Most of the central Arctic Ocean used to be covered with thick multiyear ice that would not completely melt during the summer and reflect back sunshine,” said Nathan Kurtz, IceBridge’s project scientist and a sea ice researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “But we have now lost most of this old ice and exposed the open ocean below, which absorbs most of the sun’s energy. That’s one reason the Arctic warming has increased nearly twice the global average— when we lose the reflecting cover of the Arctic Ocean, we lose a mechanism to cool the planet.”
According to NASA:
Carbon Dioxide in the air are at their highest in 650,000 years.
Global average sea level has risen 7″ over the past 100 years.
In 2012, the Arctic summer sea ice shrank to the lowest extent on records.
To learn more from the reliable source of NASA, please visit www.Climate.NASA.gov
